ONLY a handful of more than 5,000 food establishments across the county have been told they need urgent improvements by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

According to the FSA, which inspect all organisations who deal with food – including schools, universities, distributors, cafes, restaurants, takeaways, guest houses, farmers and growers, mobile caterers and retailers – only 11 sites are not up to scratch and are deemed to need “urgent improvement”.

Under the so-called Scores on the Doors scheme, organisations are rated from zero – being the worst – to five, which is the highest rating.

The Scores on the Doors website has received more than 300,000 hits looking at businesses in the city.

Across the county the FSA oversee hygiene at more than 5,400 premises. It is also responsible for food safety, labelling and food law enforcement.

Hygiene inspections are carried out by local authorities on behalf of the FSA. The idea of the rating scheme is to help customers choose where to eat or shop by providing a score of hygiene standards at a premises.

It is not a legal requirement to display the results of the Scores on the Doors inspection at the premises but all ratings are published online at the Scores on the Doors webstie.

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It must make urgent improvements to hygiene standards. The local authority food safety officer will use a number of enforcement tools as well as giving advice and guidance to make sure these improvements are made.

The food safety officer will tell the business how quickly these improvements must be made and this will depend on the type of issue that needs to be addressed They could stop part of a business’s operation or close it down if they find a business’s hygiene standards are very poor and there is an imminent risk to health, meaning food is not safe to eat.

A spokesman for the FSA said: “In November 2010 the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Food Hygiene Information scheme in Scotland was introduced and local authorities have been coming on board ever since.

“There are now 371 of the 374 local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (99 per cent) running the scheme.

“Two of the remaining three authorities are in the process of launching it.

“The scheme was introduced to allow consumers to make an informed choice by helping them choose where to eat out or shop for food by giving them information about the hygiene standards in restaurants, cafés, takeaways, hotels and food shops.

“The schemes also encourage businesses to improve hygiene standards.

“The overarching aim is to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness.”

THE new owners of the Waggon and Horses, in Faringdon Road, Southmoor, have celebrated transforming the pub from a one rating to a five in less than five months.
When Paul and Kim Gresty took over the tenancy last October they closed the pub for a month for a £40,000 refurbishment.
Work included redecorating, replacing furniture and furnishings and deep cleaning the kitchen.
Mrs Gresty said the couple had put new procedures in place to ensure high hygiene standards were maintained.
She said: “We are very pleased to have received five stars from the Food Standards Agency for our kitchen standards.
“When we took the tenancy in October the pub had only one star and was very run down, so we are very proud of our achievement in such a short time.
“We have got a darts team, an Aunt Sally team and locals are coming back in. We are very pleased with the response.”

THE COPPER KITCHEN - FIVE STARS

Kush Salahu of The Copper Kitchen

Kush Sallahu, 32, who opened the 30-seater Copper Kitchen in December last year and scored five in the hygiene rating, said it was important to show people his restaurant was clean and that food was fresh and handled properly.
He said: “I think it (the rating) is important. It shows we keep food as fresh as we can, the place is tidy and safe for our customers to eat.”
The chef said food handling and hygiene was part of his training and he had completed courses before he opened his restaurant.

JAMAICAN SPICE - FIVE STARS

Jamaican Spice restaurant

Wayne Watt, owner of Jamaican Spice in Hollow Way, Cowley, turned around his zero rating to a five.
Last March the eaterie was rated zero following an inspection.
But it was re-inspected in March this year and is now deemed five for hygiene.
Mr Watt said: “To them, the shop needed a bit of a clean. I locked the shop for a couple of days and cleaned the kitchen from front to back. It is spotless now.
“Now I am trying to keep it that way.
“I don’t want to lose my rating.”

THE ZERO RATING

A STATEMENT from the city council says:
Being given a rating of ‘0’ means that a business has performed poorly and needs to make urgent improvement. The rating is based on three elements:

How hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored. Six rating from very bad – meaning almost total non-compliance with statutory obligations – to very good – meaning high standard of compliance with statutory obligations and industry codes of recommended practice.

The condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities. Six rating from very bad – meaning almost total non-compliance with statutory obligations – to very good – meaning high standard of compliance with statutory obligations and industry codes of recommended practice.

How the business manages what it does to make sure food is safe and so that the officer can be confident standards will be maintained in the future. Five ratings from high – good record of compliance – to no confidence – poor track record of compliance; little or no technical knowledge; little or no appreciation of hazards or quality control; no food safety management system.

A rating of ‘0’ does not necessarily mean a business has performed badly in all three of these areas.
Where poor standards are identified, businesses are subject to a range of enforcement measures to ensure hygiene standards are improved to a satisfactory level.
There are 11 ‘0’ rated businesses out of the 1,250 food businesses inspected. The Food Standards Agency said where it had carried out revisits, it had found improvements in standards.

0 – Urgent improvement necessary

1 – Major improvement necessary

2 – Improvement necessary

3 – Generally satisfactory

4 – Good

5 – Very good

ZERO RATED ESTABLISHMENTS

ZERO rated establishments around the county:

OXFORD

Adams Guest House, Banbury Road, last inspected in March 2013. Adams Guest House declined to comment.

Peri Peri Original, Cowley Road, inspected November 2013. Abdul Vahab, co-owner of Peri Peri Original in Cowley Road, which got a zero rating on its last inspection in November 2013, said he had taken over the business in January. He said: “We are doing our best to improve. We said we have done our best to get a rating of four or five. We are improving. It was really dirty when I took over. We put tiling on the wall. We put tiles there so you can easily clean it. The kitchen is much bigger than before.”

I'm amazed that places with a zero rating don't need to close. I was horrified when I discovered that my local Chinese takeaway had a zero rating and stopped using them immediately.

Also amazed that popular places like The Pink Giraffe, Fishers Restaurant and Atomic Pizza have such dire ratings, I guess most people don't check before they go out.

I'm amazed that places with a zero rating don't need to close. I was horrified when I discovered that my local Chinese takeaway had a zero rating and stopped using them immediately.
Also amazed that popular places like The Pink Giraffe, Fishers Restaurant and Atomic Pizza have such dire ratings, I guess most people don't check before they go out.OxfordStu

What every restaurant should have is a HD camera and screen on show, so all customers can see what they are doing in the Kitchens. This won't guard against poor food management or cleanliness of course..If you eat out you put your life and trust in another's hands..some of which I wouldn't touch with a barge pole..

What every restaurant should have is a HD camera and screen on show, so all customers can see what they are doing in the Kitchens. This won't guard against poor food management or cleanliness of course..If you eat out you put your life and trust in another's hands..some of which I wouldn't touch with a barge pole..Amazinganman

It is disgusting these establishments are allowed to stay open and make money from the general public who don't know about their poor hygiene standards.Well done to the Oxford Mail for letting as many people as possible know where not to eat. I for one, like many others won't be eating in any of the 11 establishments rated with the Zero score.

It is disgusting these establishments are allowed to stay open and make money from the general public who don't know about their poor hygiene standards.Well done to the Oxford Mail for letting as many people as possible know where not to eat. I for one, like many others won't be eating in any of the 11 establishments rated with the Zero score.Oxontalk